As a solo librarian in a small library with, until a couple of months ago, no library management system and with no access management system I hadn’t really delved into the world of ebooks since I finished my MA two years ago. I’m not sure those things are necessary for an ebook collection, but it’s something that seems complicated and would need time to think about to set up (and budget!). I’ve had brief conversations with people working in similar libraries to me about the subject, but it’s just not reached the top of my to do list yet.

So I decided to quickly remind myself of what I used to know about ebooks and try to update myself. A summary is below for anyone else who would find it useful.

Licensing electronic content vs. purchasing print content: Buying ebooks is not the same as buying print books. You purchase a license to access the content, not the content itself.

Ebooks come in a variety of formats – the two main ones are EPUB and PDF